Prior art FIG. 5 is a bottom view of a vehicle showing an exhaust apparatus. A pair of left and right side panels 104L and 104R extending in a vehicle front/rear direction are arranged between a pair of left and right front wheels 102L and 102R and a pair of left and right rear wheels 103L and 103R of a vehicle 101. A front floor 105 and a rear floor 106 coupled with a rear edge portion of the front floor through a vertical wall portion (not shown) are arranged between both of the side panels 104L and 104R.
An exhaust manifold 109 of an engine 108 mounted between the left and right front wheels 102L and 102R is collectively connected to a catalytic converter 110. An exhaust pipe 111 is connected to the catalytic converter 110 through a spherical joint 112. The exhaust pipe 111 is extended toward a rear portion of the vehicle in a tunnel portion 105a formed in the front floor 105 and under the rear floor 106. A sub-chamber 113 is attached to a halfway portion of the exhaust pipe 111 which passes through the tunnel portion 105a. A noise eliminator 114 is attached to a portion of the exhaust pipe 111 which passes under the rear floor 106. A fuel tank 115 is arranged at or adjacent a left side portion of the noise eliminator 114.
The exhaust pipe 111 is elastically supported to the vehicle body by mounting (not shown) at the following four points in total: one point P1′ at a portion of the pipe on the front side of the front floor 105; two points P2′ and P3′ at the front and rear edges of the noise eliminator 114; and one point P4′ at a rear edge portion of the pipe rearwardly of the noise eliminator 114 as shown in FIG. 5. However, since vehicle body sensitivity is high and vibration that is propagated to the vehicle body increases or in terms of a layout, there is a case where the one point (point on the front side of the noise eliminator 114) P2′ of the exhaust pipe 111 cannot be supported.
The following construction has been disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 57-179525: an exhaust pipe of a vehicle having a flexible tube for vibration isolation, in which a stopper wire is stretched between a front edge portion of a muffler (noise eliminator) provided for the exhaust pipe and a portion near a rear edge upper portion of the muffler of the vehicle. The construction enables a front edge side of the exhaust pipe including the muffler, to swing upward without largely moving forward when a rear edge or end of the exhaust pipe has collided and thus avoid a buckling deformation of the flexible tube.
In the exhaust apparatus shown in prior art FIG. 5, there is a problem in that when the one point P2′ of the exhaust pipe 111 (point of the front edge or end of the noise eliminator 114) cannot be supported for the foregoing reason. If an impact force F on the left side acts on the vehicle body from a collision on the left side of the vehicle 101, although the noise eliminator 114 remains at the original position by an inertia at the moment of the collision, the fuel tank 115 is moved to the right together with the vehicle body, so that the fuel tank 115 interferes with the noise eliminator 114. Such a problem cannot be solved by the construction proposed in JP Utility Model 57-179525.
The invention is made in consideration of the foregoing problem and it is an object of the invention to provide an exhaust apparatus for a vehicle in which even if an impact was applied to a vehicle body from a side surface, an interference between a fuel tank and a noise eliminator is prevented, and thus the fuel tank can be protected.